A Renaissance E Books publication
CHAPTER ONE
Penny grabbed hold of Rita`s arm. "Oh, god," she rasped, practically panting.
"Look who`s coming in. It`s Roper."
Rita could practically smell the pheromones off her fellow waitress at the Silver Spur
Honky Tonk. "Roper, who?" she asked, wondering what made this one any different
than the hundred other cowboys who had been rolling in and out of here on this, Rita`s
first night on the job.
"You don`t understand." Penny was dreamy eyed, unconsciously pushing her chest
out, increasing the cleavage of her uniform black halter top, the only covering she had
other than black shorts, white vest and boots. "This is him...Roper."
Rita gave Roper a second look, trying to see what the fuss was. Okay, he was cute
enough, hot, actually, with his chiseled features, five o`clock shadow, baby blue eyes,
short dark hair and lean body, but he was hardly the second coming of Elvis. "I
don`t get it," she shook her head, copper red curls dancing about her bare,
reasonably tanned shoulders.
"Oh, you will," Penny said throatily. "If you`re lucky."
So that was it. Roper liked to fuck. Well Rita did, too. But not strangers and
certainly not ones she bumped into working at beer soaked country and western bars.
"I think his type I can do without," Rita said flatly. "Thanks just the
same."
"That`s what everyone says at first." This from Carrie, a bushy haired blonde
with a thin, but appealing figure. "He`s got his ways, though."
"Such as?" Rita queried.
Penny leaned over and whispered something in Rita`s ear.
Rita flushed hotly. "I have tables to wait on."
"Start over there, table nine," Carrie pointed.
There was Roper, sitting all by his lonesome in his tight jeans and flannel shirt, half
unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up.
"Please," said Rita. "Don`t make me..."
"We are making you," said Carrie. "And if you don`t do it, we`ll tell
Sonny you`re not pulling your share."
As in Sonny, the chip on his shoulder manager.
Just what she needed, to get fired on her first night.
"Do you all hate me or what?" Rita demanded.
"Consider it your initiation," the five foot two inch, curvy, dark haired Penny
chuckled, pushing the taller Rita forward.
Rita had had her share of initiations, thank you very much. At thirty one, she`d been
sweet talked, seduced, put over, put on and put off more times than she could remember.
She was through with men, with the exception of her ninety year old grandfather whom she`d
come to town to take care of.
She`d make short work of this Roper character. She`d take his order, cool as ice,
letting him know he`d get nowhere with her. She wasn`t all that attractive, anyway, not
in her opinion. Good enough looking to get a job in this place, sure, but plenty of
others outshone her, including sexy little Penny and sultry looking Carrie.
"Hello and welcome to the Silver Spur," said Rita, making short work of the
bar`s tag line. "May I help you to have a rip roaring time? We have beer on draft
and—"
"Wow," Roper cut her off. "If that isn`t the saddest delivery I`ve ever
heard."
Andrea scowled. "Excuse me?"
"Your approach," he said. "It`s all wrong. I`d want to shoot myself
after hearing you, not order a beer."
Her hands went to her hips. She narrowed her gaze. As far as she was concerned he could
shoot himself.
"Look, it`s my first night, so how about cutting me some slack? You want a beer or
not?"
He pursed his lips. "I`ll get something, but first I want to know what Penny told
you."
Rita felt the blush return, from her cheeks all the way down to her toes. "I don`t
know what you`re talking about."
"Yes, you do. I saw her whisper something. And don`t try to lie. I know when girls
lie to me."
"I`m not a girl," she defied. "I`m a woman. And for your information,
she was telling me to watch out for one of the guys at the pool table."
He shook his head sadly. "No, that`s a lie, definitely a lie."
Damn it, this man was irking her. "Okay, try this. I truly think you`re an
arrogant, full of yourself bastard. How does that rank on your honesty meter?"
Roper ran his hand over the back of his neck, as if considering. His movements were
deliberate, smooth...and more than a little disconcerting. She reminded me of some jungle
cat, acting all relaxed but ready to spring at any moment. Was she the prey?
She felt a twitching between her thighs.
"I`d give it a five out of ten," he said. "You`re upset with me, yes, but
you`re intrigued, too. It shows on your face. You`re a little scared by it, though,
which is why you`re lying to me."
Rita had had it. It was time to put this wanna be cowboy psychologist in his place.
"You want the real truth? Fine. I`ve met dozens of men just like you and they make
me sick. You`re nothing special. As for what Penny said, she told me your specialty is
tying women up, that you can make any woman beg for it."
"Probably not any woman," he said. "Only the ones who really want it in
the first place."
Rita rolled her eyes. "While I`d love to argue with you all night, proving what a
fool you are, but I have a job here. Either order something or get out."
"I`ll take a draft," he said.
She heaved an internal sigh of relief. He`d backed down. She`d won.
So why was a part of her disappointed?
"Well?" Penny wanted to know as Rita came back to the bar to get Roper`s beer.
"Well, nothing, he ordered something and that was it."
Penny looked amazed. "Really?"
"What did you expect?" Rita shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "I
told you, he`s not my type."
"The night is young," Carrie predicted, having come up alongside Rita.
"You`ll see."
Roper said nothing as she delivered the beer. He drank it in about ten minutes and
ordered a refill. The bar was much more crowded by now. Rita had to weave her way across
the floor to get to him.
When she brought him the second beer, he asked a question. "Why don`t you have a
boyfriend?"
Her knees went weak. She wasn`t going to get away with a lie...
"What makes you think I don`t?" she stalled.
"You don`t," he said firmly. "A taken woman walks differently, she even
talks differently."
Rita shook out her curls. "Are these your best pick up lines? Because if they are,
honestly, I really don`t see why you have such a reputation."
"I don`t pick women up. I don`t chase them, either," he said, sipping his beer
through full lips. He really was a handsome devil, well proportioned, with a classic nose
and deep eyes, like one of those bold young war correspondents on television. She pegged
him at thirty five or so, though he might be older.
"Bully for you," she spat, with more emotion than she`d intended. "Would
you like a medal?"
"No," he stunned her. "Though I do want you."
Her mouth gaped. "You`re unbelievable."
"You aren`t at all interested in me?" he asked.
"That`s...that`s not the point."
He raised a brow, accentuating his dimples. "What other point could there
be?"
"Beer," she supplied the correct answer like a game show contestant.
"You, continuing to order it, me, serving it."
He studied her. "Your reaction was interesting, by the way, when Penny told you
what she did."
"Oh, wait," she said sarcastically. "Don`t tell me, the great cowboy
psychologist has concluded I have some unquenchable desire to be tied up and made love
to—by you, of course."
Roper was non-plussed. "The words are yours, not mine."
"Screw you," she snapped. "Those are my words, too."
"Screw, make love. Do you always make so many sex analogies?"
"When I`m talking to a dick head, yes."
He laughed, raising his glass. "Touché."
She put her nose in the air and turned on her heel. Over the next half hour she served
three other tables, unable to think of anything but Roper, with his eerie, charismatic
presence, at once calming and disconcerting. He seemed safe, but on the edge, too. What
was she really scared of, him or herself?
"Penny, I need you to switch tables with me," Rita cornered her.
"Which one?"
"Which one do you think?"
"The Roper?" She grinned. "Is he too much for you?"
"Whatever," she snapped. "Just let`s switch...please?"
"Okay," said Penny. "But it`s your loss."
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